Mission statement

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Minifree Ltd sells GNU+Linux computers with the Libreboot firmware (based on coreboot) and Debian operating system preinstalled.

Libreboot and is a free (libre) BIOS/UEFI replacement, offering faster boots speeds, better security and many advanced features compared to most proprietary boot firmware. The main benefit to both projects is your freedom and privacy in using your computer, as defined by the Free Software Definition, but it has many technical advantages aswell (faster boot speeds, GNU GRUB directly in the boot flash, many customization options you can’t get with proprietary BIOS/UEFI).

The aim is simple: make it easy to have a computer that was made to run entirely on Free Software at every level, meaning no proprietary software of any kind. That includes the boot firmware, operating system, drivers and applications. These machines are intended for security-conscious people who value the ideals of the free software movement, and want something easy to use.

But why? What is this all about? All computer users deserve maximum control (liberty) over the computers that they own. I, Leah Rowe, company director, believe so strongly in this that this very website, minifree.org, runs on Libreboot-powered servers, on a network behind a Libreboot-powered router. All minifree.org servers are entirely self-hosted, in my lab! I’m quite competent at sysadmin tasks, and I’ve been self-hosting for years.

Minifree’s founder, Leah Rowe, is a libreboot developer (and founder of the libreboot project). Profits from Minifree sales directly fund the Libreboot project. This includes paying for development, hardware, hosting and so on. Minifree can be contacted, using the information on the contact page.

You may also find me on Mastodon at @libreleah@mas.to: https://mas.to/@libreleah

My reddit user name is libreleah and I am a moderator of https://www.reddit.com/r/libreboot/

I’m a passionate Free Software activist. When I started this company, and created Libreboot, I did so precisely because I noticed a trend: libre systems were possible, but out of reach by ordinary non-technical people. Everything I do is geared towards non-technical people. However, skilled software engineers also buy from me!

Examples of how I, Leah Rowe, have contributed financially and technically to Libreboot:

• I’m the founder and lead developer of the project. I work on it every day.
• I created the project, from scratch! The Libreboot project was formally announced in early 2014, but work had started in December 2013.
• Ported boards to Libreboot many times, in addition to spending countless hours providing free user support to the public, via IRC and mailing lists.
• Minifree Ltd has privately funded several new board ports to coreboot, which were then added to libreboot: 90,000 USD to Raptor Engineering for ASUS KGPE-D16 and KCMA-D8 libreboot support, and 4000 AUD to Damien Zammit for Gigabyte GA-G41M-ES2L and Intel D510MO libreboot support
• The libreboot.org infrastructure plus hosting is paid for by Minifree Ltd, and maintained by it.
• I work on Libreboot regularly, and I discuss with other developers. This costs time, which costs money (need to eat, sleep, etc).
• Generally paying for new development. I don’t spend much money on myself, it all mainly goes to libreboot and general living costs. Costs are kept as low as possible to ensure that Libreboot always has excess funding available in the future. I don’t believe in asking for help unless it’s really needed, and I try to be self-sufficient in everything that I do; on the other hand, code and documentation patches for Libreboot are always welcome!

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